[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-starting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring":3,"chapter-starting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring-starting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring-chapter-74":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Starting at Hogwarts, Logging into Elden Ring",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1496248,1944,"Chapter 74: Lucius’ Schemes, Ranni’s New Wand","starting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring-chapter-74",74,"\u003Cp>After Arthur left, Draco fell into deep thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucius, on the other hand, took quite some time before regaining his composure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he came to his senses, he realized his back was drenched in cold sweat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Draco! You never told me there was such a figure at Hogwarts!\" he barked in a rare loss of control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That little girl just now… the pressure she exerted was even more terrifying than when the Dark Lord was enraged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Father, that girl isn't a Hogwarts student,\" Draco said weakly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then who is she?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She's… that boy's fiancée.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucius replayed the earlier exchange in his mind. Draco had indeed referred to the Gryffindor boy as \"he,\" not \"they.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he'd clearly heard it — the girl was introduced as that boy's fiancée.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Judging by the way things looked, it was obvious she centered everything around him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By Merlin's beard… so the real power lies with this one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Lucius had never heard of either of them among the Sacred Twenty-Eight families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wait… the boy's features… they looked Eastern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sharp hiss escaped his teeth. Could it be? One of those Eastern sorcerers — from that ancient empire the combined mystic orders of eight nations once tried and failed to breach?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Countless thoughts flashed through Lucius' mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At last, he asked slowly, \"Draco, what sort of relationship do you have with that classmate?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's fine. I never picked a fight with him,\" Draco replied, knowing exactly what his father feared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Good. That's good.\" Lucius exhaled in relief. \"If you get the chance, you should cultivate ties with him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A glint flickered in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, he wasn't as wholeheartedly loyal to Voldemort as he usually appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was thinking of preparing an escape route for himself — or rather, for his son.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lately, the Ministry of Magic had been conducting multiple contraband raids every day, and it was obvious the target was former Death Eaters like him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He'd already been forced to sell off a number of Dark artifacts from the family vault.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And in his gut, he could sense it — the Dark Lord was stirring again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, having Draco forge ties with Arthur was his way of ensuring the Malfoy family had someone to turn to when the time came.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For in truth, very few of the great houses had ever truly believed in Voldemort's cause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most had joined the Death Eaters because his ideology conveniently aligned with their own interests.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They kept talking about \"pure-blood supremacy,\" but in the end, it was just a pretext to keep Muggle-born wizards from encroaching on their influence in the wizarding world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that Voldemort had fallen, and with him planning a comeback, most of his former followers had adopted a wait-and-see approach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, there were still the truly loyal ones — but most of them were locked away in Azkaban.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucius, like them, wasn't sure whether Voldemort would succeed this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, he was already calculating another path forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Arthur looked like a perfect candidate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arthur, oblivious to Lucius' careful scheming, was busy taking Ranni to pick up her wand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crowd around Lockhart hadn't thinned; Mrs. Weasley and the others were still in line for his autograph.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arthur had no patience for noisy scenes like that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Welcome… oh, it's you, young wizard.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the door creak, Ollivander greeted automatically, then looked up to recognize Arthur.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, Mr. Ollivander. We've come for the wand,\" Arthur nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course, of course. They're finished. I daresay these are the finest works of my entire career.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With admiration, Ollivander pulled a box from beneath the counter and handed it over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arthur accepted it and opened it before Ranni.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wand's golden shaft was laced with pale white streaks, the result of incorporating feathers from a Lunar Raptor Feather.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The addition tempered the gold, making it refined rather than gaudy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Looks good. Want to try it?\" Arthur suggested.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ranni raised the wand. Magic surged from her body, and at the tip of the wand a fist-sized Dark Moon condensed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ollivander broke into a cold sweat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could feel the sheer destructive force within that tiny Dark Moon — enough to obliterate half his shop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Merlin's ghost, was this really just a little witch about to attend Hogwarts?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He coughed nervously: \"Ahem… does the young lady find it satisfactory?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's fine,\" Ranni replied simply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wasn't oblivious to others' moods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Ollivander's nervous face, she flicked her wrist and dispersed the Dark Moon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her assessment, however, was honest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After wielding the Carian Scepter — one of the top-tier staves of the Lands Between — this wand could only be considered high-grade at best.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Checking the time, Arthur reckoned Hermione was probably about to reach Lockhart's signing desk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thanked Ollivander, and the two of them left the shop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the way, Arthur suggested:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shouldn't you give your wand a name?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hmm… how about The King's Golden Bough?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ranni, for once, made a little joke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Arthur nearly missed it, because the name sounded just like something out of the Lands Between.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How about we just call it the Golden Wand?\" he said quickly, afraid she might think of something even stranger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so, the wand's name was decided.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back at Flourish and Blotts, Hermione came running excitedly to Arthur, waving her freshly signed copy of Lockhart's book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was practically glowing like a fangirl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least she wasn't as over the top as Mrs. Weasley, who had taken the full set Lockhart had gifted Harry and had each and every book signed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ranni sneered to the side:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She looks smart most of the time, but how can she be fooled by a fraud like that?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione frowned. \"What do you mean?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Exactly what I said. Do you really think that peacock in there looks like someone who's endured all those adventures and journeys?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ranni borrowed Arthur's words and shot the question back at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You're lying. The stories in those books are far too vivid to be fake!\" Hermione protested.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ranni couldn't be bothered to argue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was like telling a diehard fangirl her idol was trash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more rational ones might at least demand evidence before making their own judgment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the blind ones would deny the truth even if you shoved ironclad proof under their noses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione was in the rational camp — or rather, her true idol was her all-powerful cousin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her fondness for Lockhart was closer to that of a reader for a favorite author.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She turned to Arthur, silently asking with her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He met her gaze and gave a deliberate blink — Later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now was not the time or place. They were standing at the entrance of Flourish and Blotts, surrounded by Lockhart's fanatics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their conversation had already drawn attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he said more now, walking out of Diagon Alley might become… complicated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, not for him and Ranni. With their strength, leaving would be easy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But tomorrow's Daily Prophet headline would no doubt read:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Largest Street Brawl in the History of Diagon Alley.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Visit my patreon for more chapters\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Advance 30+ Chapters Available\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>patreon.com\u002FWhiteDevil7554\u003C\u002Fp>",1185,"2026-06-06T04:19:46.381Z",1,"novelbin.me","be8f4fc85d97b0491d60521021cc805c227400acf93ec6c3dca961f628a511d3","starting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring-chapter-75","starting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring-chapter-73",281,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstarting-at-hogwarts-logging-into-elden-ring-cover.jpg"]